Yet again there is a Thursday night game. Actually all the rest of the season there are Thursday games, except for the last week of the season. So we might as well plan for them.

On this side of the border there is another football game being played this Sunday. My Calgary Stampeders are playing the dirty, rotten, clutching, grabbing, far outclassed, Montreal Alouettes. So this week the tie-breaker is picking the winner of the Grey Cup (Stampeders, if you need a hint) and total points scored. Now I'm almost sure that you won't be banned if you pick the wrong team in this game, but you might not want to chance it. 

Anyway, as always, if you can, get your picks in before the Thursday game. If not you can't you can still send me your picks, you will just miss out on the one game.

Well another week goes by and yet again I don't win.....sigh. Winners this week were Jets, Denver, Oakland, Giants, Houston, Tennessee, Green Bay (pounded da Bears), Cincinnati (in a tie game), New Orleans, Detroit (!), Tampa Bay, San Francisco, Arizona, San Diego, Dallas and Cleveland.

This week's winner: No Bunting, for the second week in a row, with a big 13 of 16, showing that bunting is a bad idea even in football. Loser this week, a new player, Tommy02 with 6 of 16, who just happens to be my middle boy. So skill in picking football teams runs in the family. Hugo had a bad week too getting 7 but I'm sure he's just happy his Jets won. Me, I got 9.

So congratulations again, No Bunting. There is a Thursday game again this week, so we'll have the pool up early Wednesday. And since my Stampeders are in the Grey Cup this weekend (!!!!) the tie-breaker will be picking the number of points they will win by.

Quantum Physics......

No sorry, the AL MVP voting was announced today and Dustin Pedroia wins, which is fine, he is as deserving as anyone. Five voters put Cliff Lee on their ballots which is still fine. Now here is what I don't get, one voter listed Mike Mussina on the ballot but no one voted for  Roy Halladay.

How can Mike Mussina be a candidate for MVP and Doc not be? Is it time to take the vote away from the baseball writers and give it to....I don't know....some trained baboons or something? Fortunately the nice man, Mark Feinsand from the New York Daily News, who voted for Mussina (and no other pitchers) wrote why: 

8. Mike Mussina, Yankees: The only pitcher on my ballot, Mussina benefited from playing for the team I cover. It's only natural to appreciate a player's season if you get the chance to witness the entire thing in person, and nothing was more enjoyable for me this year than watching Mussina's renaissance.

Mussina's 20-9 record made him the oldest first-time 20-game winner, as he trailed only Cy Young winner Cliff Lee in victories. His 3.37 ERA ranked sixth in the AL and he finished in the top 10 in winning percentage (.690) and WHIP (1.22), as Mussina put together a season no one could have envisioned. The Yankees missed the playoffs, but without Mussina, they would have been out of the race a lot earlier than they were. If this was in fact the final season for Mussina, he went out on the highest of high notes.

On a separate note, 18 of the 28 voters put Alex Rodriguez on their ballot. Really? In my estimation, A-Rod was probably the fifth-most valuable player on the Yankees behind Mussina, Mariano Rivera, Johnny Damon and Bobby Abreu. I know he had great overall stats, but if you watched the Yankees on a regular basis, you know he was far from their MVP, let alone the league's MVP.

Hmmmm he gets the vote because he is the oldest first time 20 game winner. Being an answer on a Trivial Pursuit card is a reason to vote for someone? Oh and he had a 20-9 record, compared to Doc's 20-11 record. His ERA was 3.37 and Doc's was 2.78. His whip 1.22, Doc's 1.05. And he 'put together a season what no one could have envisioned', while Doc was just great like always. But the award isn't called 'Surprising Season Award. 

Other stat comparisons....Doc completed 9 games, Moose 0. Doc pitched 246 innings, Moose 200. Doc struck out 206, Mussina 150.

And this guy is an expert.......

 Reed Cameron Johnson|LF,RF,CF|2003-2007

Runs Created as a Jay: 294

Reed Johnson was born December 8, 1976 in Riverside, CA. He was drafted by the Jays in the 17th round of the 1999 amateur draft out of Cal State Fullerton where he was named an Academic All-American and played baseball and soccer. When you are drafted in the 17th round you have to work harder to make it to the majors and Reed definitely works as hard as any major leaguer. His high socks, great defense, hustle and willingness to take one for the team made him a fan favorite in Toronto.

Reed made the Jays coming out of spring training in 2003 and started the season as part of a platoon in RF with Frank Catalanotto. On July 16th Shannon Stewart was traded to the Minnesota Twins for Bobby Kielty and the platoon was moved to LF with Kielty playing RF. That first season Reed hit .294/.353/.427 scoring 79 runs and driving in 52. He hit 10 home runs, only walked 20 times but his on base percentage was helped by being hit by pitch 20 times, second in the league in that category. Reed made turning into a pitch an art form. Twice as a Jay he has tied the major league record by being hit by pitch 3 times in a game. He also had a 20 game hit streak this season. He was named AL Rookie of the Month for September.

In 2004 Reed continued in the LF platoon with Cat and filled in at CF and RF when needed. In 141 games he hit in every spot in the order during the season. He didn't have as good a season offensively batting .270/.320/.380, scoring 68 runs, driving in 61 with 10 home runs.

In 2005 Johnson was still in the platoon, he played a little less, coming into more games as a defensive replacement, but when he started it was more often at the top of the order, batting mostly in the 1 or 2 hole. He hit .269/.332/.412 with 8 home runs, 55 runs, 58 RBI and was hit by pitch 16 times.

Johnson had his career season, with the Jays, in 2006. He was everything you could want in a leadoff man hitting .319/.390/.479 scoring 86 runs and driving in 49 with 12 homers. He also led the AL with being hit by pitch 21 times. After starting the season in his usual platoon he became a full timer in July.

Early in the 2007 season he hurt his back and had surgery on a herniated disk. He came back to the team in early July, but clearly wasn't 100% for the rest of the season. He finished with his worse stats for a season hitting only .236/.305/.320 with career lows of 31 runs, 14 RBI and 2 home runs.

In the off-season before the 2008 season, the Jays signed David Eckstein, a similar type of player as Reed, to play shortstop and lead off. With Matt Stairs expected to play in LF, Reed looked to be back in a platoon role. Then inexplicably, at least to me, the Jays signed Shannon Stewart and in spring training, released Johnson. I still have no idea why you would release Johnson, who was a year removed from a career season to play Shannon Stewart who was several years removed from his last decent season. Add into the equation that Johnson could play all 3 outfield spots very well, while Stewart could only LF and very poorly at that.

Stewart, of course, played awful for the Jays and was released during the season, while Johnson hit .303/.358/.420 in 109 games with the Cubs. Thanks JP.

I know I like him far more than I really should, Reed isn't a perfect leadoff man, he'd be better if he would take some more walks, maybe cut down on his strikeouts and he doesn't steal a lot of bases. But his hustle, defense, a good arm in the outfield and his willingness to take one for the team makes him a great fourth outfielder type. Reed is married and has, likely, the worst little patch of facial hair in the major leagues.

Reed Johnson's ranking among Jay batting leaders:

11th Batting Average (>2000 PA) .281
10th On-Base % (>2000 PA) .342
27th Games with 610
27th At Bats with 2083
25th Runs 319
25th Hits 585
26th Total Bases 853
27th Doubles 114
31st RBI 234
41th Walks 119
23rd Strike Outs 384
27th Runs Created 292
2nd Hit By Pitch 80

Since there isn't much Jay news to talk about this morning I thought we'd put up a poll, though the Yankee's offer to CC Sabathia does seem to open the discussion about another step up in player salaries, at a time when you'd have to guess that revenues are going to be down. I'd imagine Detriot Tiger revenues will be way down this year with the layoffs in the car industry. Yankees and the Mets are, likely, the only teams that will have a big revenue boost.

The huge contract offered to CC, 6 years and $140 million, will drive the price up for Burnett and in turn all the rest of the better free agent pitchers. I hope the Jays can afford someone.

Anyway, the movie poll has 'Major League' as the winner. Really? You guys think that was the best baseball movie ever? Oooookay fine. This week back to the best Jays polls, this time it is starting pitchers. We've had a number of good starters.

Sad news......Fire Joe Morgan is shutting down. Since Joe Morgan has long been one of my least favorite baseball commentators, so I have enjoyed a site that is dedicated to making fun of him. But then, he is  easy to make fun of.  Very occasionally they would make fun of someone else and it was always great to read.

It looks like Kerry Wood's days with the Cubs are at an end. The Cubs traded for reliever Kevin Gregg from the Florida Marlins giving the Marlins pitcher Jose Ceda in return. Gregg had a 3.41 ERA and 29 saves this season with the Marlins. Kerry Wood is a free agent and is looking for a long term contract, but the Cubs decided they didn't want to give him one.

And in closer to home news, A.J. Burnett has filed for free agency...yeah, I know, we've known this was coming for awhile, but now it is official.  Randy Johnson also filed today, tomorrow is the final day for players to file. Randy might be an interesting player for the Jays to go after. He'd likely only want a one year contract and being just 5 wins short of 300, he could be a good draw for the Jays. 

The Jays who filed are AJ, John Parrish, Brad Wilkerson and Gregg Zaun. I don't think the Jays have interest in bring any of them back.

And in fun news, the town of Batman, Turkey is suing Warner Brothers and Dark Knight director Chistopher Nolan for using the name Batman without their premission. If it works out for them they plan on suing Thanksgiving for using turkeys without their premission. Yeah yeah, I know it has nothing to do with football but aren't you glad you know this?

Cliff Lee got the Cy Young but at least Doc finished second. Lee received 132 points with 24 first place votes and 4 second. Doc had 4 firsts, 15 seconds and 6 third place votes. And yeah if you add them up, there were 4 BWAA voters that didn't think Doc was one of the three best pitchers in the AL. Those people's newspapers should fire them. obviously they know nothing about baseball.

KRod finished third with 32 points (7 second place votes). DiceK, Mariano Rivera, Mussina and Ervin Santana also received votes.

Yeah we knew Lee would win but it bugs me, again, that some voters were stupid enough to leave Doc off the list. Even being dumb enough to vote KRod second, for reasons that escape me, wouldn't you think they could at least put Doc third? I guess no one has claimed the writers are bright. In the NL a non-rookie got votes. If you can't at least make sure the one you are voting for is eligible for the award shouldn't you lose the right to vote?

I still think Doc was the best pitcher this season but I know that the writers most voters just look to see who had the most wins and put a check mark there. It is a sad world.

Unfortunately it doesn't involve the Jays, the White Sox have traded Nick Swisher to the Yankees for Wilson Betemit and minor league pitchers Jeff Marquez and Jhonny Nunez. An interesting trade for the Yankees, Swisher can play any of the outfield spots or first base.

Swisher did not have a good season last year, hitting just .219 with 24 homers but he does have talent and I think he'll be a good pickup for the Yankees. Betemit is a utility infielder and I can't see him having a bigger role with the Sox. But getting a couple of pitching prospects is a good thing.

Ok, can I say off the bat that I hate Thursday night Football games?  Anyway, I wasn't paying attention again and there is a game tomorrow night, involving Hugo's favorite team, the Jets. All 16 teams play this week. If you can't get your picks in before Thursday's game you can still send them in, you will just have one less game to guess at, but the way I play you'll likely beat me out anyway. We will go back to the total points scored in the Monday Night game as the tie-breaker. We didn't have many in the pool last week so be sure to join in this week. Good luck.

Gregg Zaun didn't enjoy his last season as a Jay and wants to let people know about it. In this story in the National Post Zaun, among other things says he was disrespected and that he wasn't told why he lost his starter's job. Also he says that Ricardi lies (no!, couldn't be):

"It sure wasn't easy to take when J. P. in the papers was telling everybody in the baseball world that nobody wanted me, when I knew that that was in fact not the truth," he said in a telephone interview. "To say that nobody was interested in me was inaccurate and embarrassing and it really made me look bad. I wasn't happy with that."

Over at Amazing Avenue they have an interesting post up about the book Moneyball. I'll admit it is one of my favorite books. Is worth the read but wanted to quote the important part:

Beane's salient point was not that on-base percentage was king (even though it is). The most important thing to take away from Moneyball, at least insofar as it would benefit a team without limitless resources, is the constant search for weaknesses in the market.

People (ie Joe Morgan)don't get it. Small market teams, if they are going to win, need to find skills that help a team win that don't cause a player to be overpaid. If you are the Yankees you can overpay, but if you are the A's you have to find the bargains. Course I don't know where trading for Holliday comes into it.

Beyond the Boxscore has their list of Top Fifty Players of 2008. Top 50 none pitchers that is. There are 2 Jays on the list, numbers 51 and 52, Marco Scutaro and Alex Rios.

And Cito Gaston has won the 2008 Jackie Robinson Lifetime Achievement Award. I can't say I had heard of the award before but it is for 'career excellence in the face of adversity'. Congratulations Cito.